“Not necessarily. It could be several people, if jealousy was the motive. Your father would be a suspect too.”
“And me,” she whispered. “You think that if I knew Archie was carrying on with my mom, I might have killed him in a jealous rage?”
“As I said, Janelle, all I’m doing is asking questions at this stage. To be honest, everyone at the wedding is a suspect.”
“But some of us more than others,” she said quietly.
“Well, yes.”
“For all you know, it was someone random. Maybe some wedding crasher wanted to carjack the limo, and Archie got in the way.”
I shrugged. “That could be. I’m open to any and all scenarios.”
“You say that, but you seem focused on me and my family.”
“Only because you guys were closest to Archie.”
She scowled. “And for that we’re punished?”
I exhaled. “Janelle, I’m trying to figure outwhysomeone wanted Archie dead. I need to understand why they took his life at the reception. It was risky to do it then. Was it premeditated? Was it a crime of passion? What drove the killer to strike at that moment? If I can figure that out, then I can find the murderer.”
“Well, I didn’t kill Archie.” Her voice shook. “I loved him.”
“Okay.”
“I also can’t imagine my parents doing anything that… gruesome. My mother may be a flirt, but she’s not violent.”
“I’ll agree she doesn’t strike me as a violent person. Neither do you.”
She looked relieved. “Well, at least that’s something.”
I let a few moments pass, then said, “I still have to ask more questions.”
Her scowl returned.
“Kobe says he saw Archie arguing with your father.”
She groaned. “Why are you listening to Kobe? He was beyond drunk.”
“That doesn’t mean he didn’t see what he saw.”
“I wouldn’t trust what he said,” she muttered.
“Did your father and Archie get along?”
Her scowl deepened, but she didn’t speak.
Frustration nudged me because I was trying to figure out if her parents had approved of her marrying Archie. I suspected they hadn’t. I decided to try another route to the same destination. “Did Archie have any money of his own?”
She looked thrown by the change of questioning. “Well… he owned the limousine business. He was able to buy the cars, so obviously he must have had some money.”
“But nothing like the money your family has, correct?”
She grimaced. “Well, my family is unusually wealthy. Most people don’t have our kind of money.”
“Your parents didn’t mind that you were marrying someone so far beneath you in social stature?”
Her mouth hardened. “That’s insulting.”
